List of geological features on Titan

List of geological features on Titan

This is a list of named geological features on Saturn's moon Titan. Official names for these features have only been announced very recently, as Titan's surface was virtually unknown before the arrival of the "Cassini" probe. Some features were known by informal nicknames beforehand; these names are noted where appropriate.

Albedo features

Albedo features on Titan are name after sacred or enchanted places in world mythologies and literature.

Bright albedo features

Craters

Craters on Titan are named after deities of wisdom.

Flumina

A flumen is a feature that looks like a channel carved by liquid. There is one named group of flumina on Titan.

Maculae

Titanian maculae (dark spots) are named after deities of happiness, peace, and harmony in world mythology.

Informal names for unnamed features

Because the exact nature of many surface features remain mysterious, a number of features have not yet received formal names and are known by nicknames. In most cases, indications of brightness and darkness refer not to visible light, but to the infrared images used to look through Titan's obscuring haze. "Cassini" has also begun to map portions of Titan using radar.

*'The Sickle': a large, dark, sickle-shaped region identified by the Hubble Space Telescope.
*'Dog and Ball', 'Dragon's Head': large, dark, roughly equatorial regions identified by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, named for their distinctive shapes.
*'Si-Si the Cat': a region that appears dark in radar images, named after a researcher's daughter who said it looked like a cat.

ee also

*Lakes of Titan

External links

* [http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/jsp/FeatureTypes2.jsp?system=Saturn&body=Titan&systemID=6&bodyID=30&sort=AName&show=Fname&show=Lat&show=Long&show=Diam&show=Stat&show=Orig USGS: Titan nomenclature]
* [http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/jsp/SystemSearch2.jsp?System=Saturn USGS links to PDF maps with nomenclature]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Geological features of the solar system — Recommendation Geology of solar terrestrial planets This is a directory of lists of geological features on other planets, moons and asteroids (in order of increasing distance of the Sun): = Mercury = * List of craters on Mercury * List of… …   Wikipedia

  • Titan (moon) — Titan Titan in 2005 by Cassini spacecraft Discovery Discovered by Christiaan Huygens …   Wikipedia

  • Dilmun (Titan) — Dilmun is a region of high albedo on Titan, Saturn s natural satellite. Characteristics Dilmun is located near the equator, centered on 15°N and 175 ° W.[1] The large dark area of Shangri la is located in the south. Observation Dilmun was… …   Wikipedia

  • Colonization of Titan — Saturn s moon Titan in natural color. Saturn’s orange moon Titan is one of several candidates for a possible future colonization of the outer solar system. There are many possible reasons for colonization, one of which is mining or collecting… …   Wikipedia

  • List of natural satellites — This article is about the moons of planets and dwarf planets. For asteroid or minor planet moons, see Minor planet moon. Objects in the Solar System By orbit …   Wikipedia

  • List of fictional elements, materials, isotopes and atomic particles — This list contains chemical elements, materials, isotopes or (sub)atomic particle that exist primarily in works of fiction (usually fantasy or science fiction). No actual periodic elements end in ite , though many minerals have names with this… …   Wikipedia

  • Classical albedo features on Mars — Mars, as seen through a small telescope, showing the patterns of colour known as albedo features. The classical albedo features of Mars are the light and dark features that can be seen on the planet Mars through an Earth based telescope. Before… …   Wikipedia

  • Nomenclatura planetaria — Un mapa de la Luna, de la 1ª edición del Andrees Allgemeiner Handatlas (1881), anterior a los convenios de la UAI La nomenclatura planetaria, como la nomenclatura terrestre, es un sistema de identificación único de los accidentes o rasgos (en… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Cassini–Huygens — Artist s concept of Cassini s Saturn Orbit Insertion Operator NASA / ESA / ASI Mission type …   Wikipedia

  • Ontario Lacus — Ontario Lacūs RADAR image of Ontario Lacūs taken by Cassini on January 12, 2010. Feature type Lacūs Coordinates …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”